Consistent power vs Moments of Power

So lately I was thinking about Bruisers in the top lane, and how they influence games that they are a part of. Mostly about how Renekton, although he is in a good spot, doesn't seem to be seeing much play. Same with Sion, Wukong, Pantheon and 2 of the Juggernauts pre-...well, juggernaut. But then I noticed that one bruiser seems to manage to stay relevant. Gnar.

I love Gnar. Gnar is a good champion. Gnar is powerful, Gnar is fun. But why has he remained so relevant during his time here on the rift since release? Inconsistent power.Gnar was designed to be a bruiser who had moments of weakness, and moments of power, but not in the normal way like where Renekton or other bruisers are suddenly in a moment of weakness because they don't have their ultimates off cooldown. Gnar was built in a way where Mega Gnar was supposed to embody his moments of power, and Mini Gnar embodies the moments of weakness, and because of this, Gnar was designed to not have a reliable form of power, forcing those who play him to be ready at any moment to switch from one play style of champion (poking with constant ranged harass and W procs) to another entirely (Huge CC tank with tons of damage and teamfight presence)

Because of this, Gnar can either have the best teamfighting in the game, or the worst. But it all comes down to how you manage your inconsistent power. Teams that are good at capitalizing on Gnar's rage meter will often find themselves pulling ahead in the game through dominated teamfights through Gnar's sheer power and CC. Even just slamming 2 people into a wall is huge for Gnar, following it up with another stun from W, you can lock up targets for an upwards of 3 seconds or so, and in a teamfight, that's like an eternity of sitting and watching the other team blast you with abilities and DPS.

Now, why do Sion or Renekton, two champions with the same goal as Gnar in mind (Force a hard engage, start laying down your CC and/or damage on priority targets) have a rougher time of it than Mega Gnar, who seems to guarantee fights to be won just as long as you can throw atleast 1 or 2 people into a wall? Because they have consistent power. Renekton is a good example of consistent power here. He starts out strong, stays strong, and then because he brings more damage to a team than utility, falls off during the late game. Sion starts off weak, but continues to ramp up with each item purchased, and then his power comes to a head in the late game, where because he has more utility than damage, he remains relevant through his teamfighting potential.

Then there's Gnar. The thing about inconsistent power is that because it can't always be relied on because of limited access to it, when you do get access to it, it's amazingly strong. Because of this, a team that can play well around Gnar's Fury is a team that has a very, very high chance of winning the game. Mega Gnar just does more in teamfights than Renekton or Sion do. He does more damage than them, and he has more CC (well, he's pretty even in CC in teamfights with Sion, but it's alot easier for Gnar to land his main CCs). But Both Renekton and Sion do more in teamfight situations than Mini Gnar will ever do.

Does this mean that Gnar is inherently better than Sion and Renekton because his inconsistent power wins out over their consistent power when managed properly? I don't think so, no. I think they are very close, if anything, with Gnar leading by a little. You're always going to have times when the enemy team will know to make sure that teamfights are started well before Mega Gnar is even a threat, and there is the fact that Gnar is actually incredibly susceptible to Renekton and Sion's damage in the earlier parts of the game(assuming that Gnar is matched up against them). Gnar isn't perfect in all scenarios, which is exactly how he's supposed to be designed.

I think my main hope, though, is that Riot looks into more ways to bring inconsistently powerful champions into the game. I feel that inconsistent power is an avenue of design that hasn't quite been explored to it's fullest potential, and I very much look forward to seeing just how many ways Riot can utilize it.

Gnar Gada